Ensuring a healthy Europe
Digital connectivity can deliver direct and immediate returns by improving access and efficiency of patient care.
The challenge
As Europe rebuilds after the pandemic, it faces the looming – yet long-standing – challenge of an aging population, continued shortages of healthcare professionals and persistent budget constraints that stifle quality publicly funded care.
Deteriorating healthcare systems also have knock-on effects on the economy, ranging from workforce productivity losses to rising social inequality. Ensuring Europe’s future competitiveness will require mitigating these serious risks.
Driving positive change
Connectivity can deliver direct and immediate returns by improving access and efficiency of patient care through telemedicine and remote patient monitoring.
Additionally, AI applications can improve diagnostics and care, while smart factories can revolutionise medical technology operations. It is estimated that these types of digital healthcare technologies could save up to €120 billion annually for the entire EU.
Relevant policy positions
Progress towards the EU’s Digital Decade ambition
The European Union’s (EU) Digital Decade, which sets key targets on different digital areas until 2030, is the EU’s vision for Europe’s digital transformation and a critical element in Europe maintaining its global competitiveness in a rapidly changing world. Yet the proportion of businesses using cloud technology, in particular, must significantly increase in order to meet the European Commission’s Digital Decade 2030 goal. In this report, produced by Deloitte and commissioned by Vodafone, four key policy enablers are set out that could help enable the EU to realise its European Digital Decade goals.